High-Five: Eagles continue run of dual state titles

A dual match consists of 14 bouts.

But Saturday evening at Allen, the 2013 Texas High School Wrestling Coaches Association Dual State Tournament Finals were, for all intents and purposes, over after six matches as the Eagles had built a 30-0 lead over El Paso Franklin en route to a 55-15 victory and their fifth straight dual state championship.

"We came in with a goal to dominate and I think we did that," said Jerry Best, Allen head coach. "The kids wrestled real tough all day; there are 14 weight classes and we had four duals today, yet we didn't have a lot of bad matches."

Allen is the first Texas team to win five dual state titles in a row.

"That's something I know means a lot to the kids," Best said, "but I also think it means a lot to our school and the city of Allen."

"This is an awesome feeling," added Oliver Pierce, Allen's 152-pounder. "It is a simple concept that coach Best preaches, but it's hard to do, 'work hard and continue to work hard.' And this is another example of how that pays off."

Saturday was Allen's first time to host the dual state meet.

"It's a pretty incredible feeling to win it and to do it in front of our home fans," said Nick Cobb, Allen's 195. "And it's great for the youth program to see this because that's who we need to build around to continue our winning tradition."

"It was pretty cool to have this tournament at home," Pierce added. "We have a lot of fans out here today and a lot of my friends were able to make it out, some who are seeing me wrestle for the first time."

Pierce and teammate Bo Nickal (160) gave the home fans plenty to cheer about.

Both grapplers pinned all their opponents Saturday, a run that included team victories over Clear Falls (75-6) and Cedar Park Vista Ridge (65-9) in pool matches as well as two-time state runner-up Flower Mound (57-10) in the semifinals.

"With Oliver and Bo, those are two guys where it just shows that they are dedicated to this sport all year," Best said. "From the weight training to the cross training to the national meets, those guys work all year."

Pierce and Nickal pinned their finals opponents off a respective fireman's carry and huge takedown.

But by that point, the finals were already out of hand.

Thanks for that goes to the contingent of 182-pounder Matt Meyer (technical fall), Cobb (8-4 decision), 220-pounder Stone Drulman (major decision), heavyweight Garrett Esparza (forfeit), 106-pounder Howard Smith (pinfall) and 113-pounder Gabe Torres (forfeit), who won their matches in that order to establish a 30-0 Allen advantage.

"It's always important to get out to an early lead," Drulman said, "especially since we want to win by as many points as possible."

"Establishing that advantage was incredibly important," Cobb added. "We weren't even halfway through the dual and we felt like we might have already broken them."

Franklin picked up momentum with a forfeit at 120 after an injury to Mason Smout and an overtime victory at 126, but Allen quickly squashed any thoughts of a comeback with a major decision by John McCabe (132) and a pinfall from Daniel Cartagena (138) in 21 seconds.

"How fast was that," Cartagena said after the match.

"Daniel is a guy that really stepped up in those last couple matches," Best added. "He was at a high level, but then took it up that next notch."

AJ Hinkle (145) followed with a 4-2 decision victory to make it 43-9 in the dual after scoring a reversal with 4 seconds remaining.

That, however, was not Hinkle's biggest win of the day. That came a round earlier as Hinkle defeated Flower Mound's Scott Akers, the defending individual state champion at 132.

"AJ just outwrestled [Akers]," Best said. "He was solid throughout and never left himself exposed."

Hinkle beat the No. 1, 3 and 4 ranked wrestlers in his weight Saturday and got to hoist the THSWCA Dual State trophy after Allen completed its 55-15 finals win over Franklin.

"AJ deserved it," Best said. "To the victor go the spoils."

Those spoils included a fifth straight dual state title for Allen, which started its run against Canyon Randall in 2009 and has now won eight of the last nine dual and individual state tourneys. The Eagles will attempt to make it 9-of-10 when the Class 5A UIL Wrestling Tournament holds forth Feb. 21-23 at the Delco Center in Austin.

"Five in a row is a huge deal, it definitely is," Drulman said, "but our season isn't over yet."

"Even when you win a national title, you get up the next day ... and you have to look for a new challenge, that's what champions do," Best added. "We'll celebrate tonight, but there is more to go, so we have to worry about getting back down to weight and setting our lineups."

Allen fans will get the opportunity to track the Eagles' quest for a fourth straight UIL championship when the school hosts the regional tournament Feb. 8-9.

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